Without You
by ArchangelKo
Summary: One-shot. Natsu the Salamander wasn't as strong as he thought. After Worly's gunshot into Natsu's mouth, Fairy Tail's world isn't the same anymore. What will Lucy do now that Natsu Dragonil is... gone? ... Forever? After the Tower of Paradise arc.


((Okay, I know all of you hate me already just by reading the description and stuff. But please, read the story through. Okay? Trust me?

Writing this was hard for me, though I liked the idea.

My friend presented this idea to me, because I was trying to come up with a new idea for a Fairy Tail fanfic. It's a 'what if' story, I guess.

She told me, "You should have no problem with doing this story, since you're a sadist and all."

I told her to go screw herself. We're best friends! Even though we pick on each other relentlessly.

It's a one shot and stuff. I'm a little busy with banging out some details for a long Bleach fanfic I'm starting. Once I start working on that a bit more, I'll have no problem with doing longer Fairy Tail fanfics again.

But this takes place after the arc where Erza is taken to the Paradise Tower and stuff. Assume that the good guys won, even though the arc isn't done yet.

Anyways, here you go. Commence!))

…

Lucy had been sitting down at an empty table in the guild for the past hour, laying her head down on the surface. Mirajane had brought her a drink, but Lucy barely touched it. She sighed, watching everyone go about their businesses. Some members laughed and joked nearby.

But it was noticeably quieter, since…

Lucy buried her face in her arms and closed her eyes. She didn't feel like being around here lately. She came because she was a member of Fairy Tail, but her motivation had died down. The same could be said for her closer friends.

Happy flew over to Lucy's table and landed in front of her. "Lucy, I heard the funniest joke," he started to say. He didn't have the same energy anymore, but he always tried to cheer her up. "There was a demon who walked into a bar-"

"I'm sorry," Lucy cut him off, lifting up her head. "I feel a bit tired… I'm going home to lay down a bit, okay?"

Happy's smile faltered a bit, showing concern. "Okay."

"I'll listen tomorrow. I promise." Lucy stood up and stepped over the bench she had been sitting on and went to walk away.

"Aye!" Happy watched her leave through the front door. But he knew that she wasn't going home.

"_To avoid being discovered by the enemy, Jubia protected Gray-sama with water," Jubia explained as Gray took off his wet shirt. _

"_That wasn't necessary! You let him get away," he argued. Erza was gone, along with those strange people. "Where's Natsu and Erza?" he asked._

"_I don't know where Natsu is," Lucy explained. "But Erza is gone… I think she was taken away."_

_She looked around for any sign of Natsu, or where the kidnappers had left._

_Lucy noticed the Salamander laying on the ground across the room. She went rigid, suddenly. Gray and Jubia noticed what she was looking at._

_A lot of blood had flowed out of his mouth, and he was a sick, pasty color. Natsu showed no movement._

"_Natsu? Natsu!" Lucy cried. Jubia held her back as Gray went to check on him._

_But they already knew that it was too late._

"_NATSU!!"_

Lucy walked down the nice, stone-paved path, only looking in front of her feet. She didn't need to look around to know where she was going. For the past month, she had been down this road many times.

She didn't want to look around. The truth was hard enough to bear already. She denied it many times in her head. Viewing the gravestones passing by only demonstrated that bad dreams could happen.

Eventually, she left the path to travel upon fresh cut grass. As she counted her steps and knew she was getting closer, Lucy gripped the flowers she recently picked even tighter. The stems were relatively thin, and she knew that clutching them in such a way would make them wilt faster. But it was an involuntary action now.

She stopped in her tracks. For a minute or two, Lucy blankly continued to look down at her feet. After reminding herself that she was here for a reason this time, her gaze shifted over to _that_ stone.

_Natsu Dragonil_

_The Salamander_

_And a good Friend_

Lucy sighed as she walked up to it.

"H-hi," she quietly said, laying down the flowers by the stone. "It's me again."

She sat down on the grass, staring at his name etched in neat lettering. It barely showed any signs of weathering. After all, it had only been a month…

"I just felt like coming. Just stopping by. To say hello," she tried to explain in a soft voice. Lucy had her legs pulled up close to her chest. She wrapped her arms around them, and rested her chin on her knees.

"Things have been going well. Erza and Gray have been taking missions. Of course they complete them easily. Happy is being his silly self. Often telling me jokes. They're often not that funny, though. I won't tell him. Makarov is still pleased that we don't often obey the rules. Everyone is doing fine…"

_Who am I kidding?_ she thought to herself. _I'm consoling a rock._

Lucy fell silent. She was biting back tears and trying to settle down the lump in her throat. So far, so good.

"It's a nice day…"

She held back words that she knew she had wanted to say for the past visits she had come for. But what was the point of saying it? It would get her nowhere. It didn't matter what she said, nothing would happen. Wasting air would be the only result.

Though, she didn't want to leave yet. To kill time, Lucy arranged the flowers so they looked nice. She brushed any dirt that was on the gravestone off of it. There was a weed nearby where she was sitting, so she pulled it up to keep the newly-grown grass perfect.

What was the point of coming? Lucy knew that she should be using the time to go on missions and earn money. She was aware that her friends paid her house's rent a week ago, even though they said nothing of it. Lucy wasn't that stupid.

She stood up, and dusted the dirt off her butt. After a pause, she went to leave.

A few steps away, Lucy stopped in her tracks. She started to shake as tears formed in her eyes. She thought that by now she should be out of tears. Her heart felt like it would burst right there, even though it had been broken into little pieces a month ago.

Lucy knew that she couldn't hold it back any longer. She turned her head angrily back in the direction of Natsu's final resting place, biting her lip almost to where it bled.

"N-Natsu……. I love you!" Tears gushed down her cheeks, falling down on her shirt and on the ground. "I love you! I LOVE YOU!!" She ran back to where she had been sitting and fell to her knees. She took a firm hold on the grass in her fists, as if the world was about to tip upside down, and she would need to hold on to something to keep from falling into the sky.

"Do you hear me?! You were such an idiot! You were so crazy and went wild in everything you did. I did get annoyed, but inside I admired you. I loved you so much when I got to know you! I love you now, even though it won't do me any good. Why did you get yourself killed before I got the chance to tell you? I love you, Natsu Dragonil. I LOVE YOU!!"

She was hysterical as she rested her forehead on the ground. "I'll never love again…"

Lucy sobbed, as she felt a weight lift off her chest. Now that the guilt from not owning up to her feelings before it was too late was gone, there was nothing but despair.

…

…

Lucy grimaced at the morning's light fell across her eyes. Slowly, she woke up in her bed, looking around.

_Was it... A bad dream?_

Lucy sat up with a yawn.

"HEY!!"

From her bedroom, she heard her front door open and hit the wall with a violent slam.

"WAKE UP WAKE UP YOU SLEEPY HEAD!!" both Natsu and Happy laughed, intruding into her house like they usually would.

_So it was…_

Her bedroom door flew open to allow the rowdy boys with stupid grins on their faces to stand in her doorframe.

"Lucy is so lazy," Natsu teased. He stopped and tilted his head to the side in confusion. "Did you have a bad dream?"

"Huh?" Lucy looked confused. She suddenly became aware of a strange sensation on her cheeks. She lifted a hand to wipe away whatever it was.

Tears. She stared at the salty water on her finger that had obviously come from her eyes in disbelief. Was she sad? That dream made her cry?

Lucy pushed the knowledge out of her head of why such a thought would upset her. She would not admit it.

"Lucy is crying from a nightmare," Happy said, grinning.

"What a baby," Natsu chimed in with his devious smile.

"Get out of my room! I'm still in my pajamas!" She quickly got up and slammed the door in their faces.

"Ouch..."

"How cold…"

They went about laughing at the fact that a simple nightmare made her cry in her sleep. Of course they didn't know what the dream was about.

Lucy shook her head in annoyance and went over to the dresser. But she paused as her reflection entered the mirror. She noticed that her expression still seemed a bit distressed… Lucy wiped away any remaining tears.

Was this a sign she should confess…

No no no. Lucy shook her head to disperse the thought. Confess what? There was nothing to 'confess'!

Besides, relationships start slowly; they build up over time, not after an outright…

She shook her head even harder than before. What was she thinking? Jeez!! They didn't have a 'relationship!'

For some strange reason, Lucy felt something suddenly tug on her heartstrings at her last thought. Like, a momentary sinking feeling.

Odd…

…

((The end! I admit……….

I cried. Lol

So it was just a bad dream. Hope you enjoyed this! Well, after the comforting ending. More lolz.))


End file.
